Since that day we’ve visited a total of 536 courses and played 321
of them.

Adventure Golf at Wookey Hole last November

We’ve also found many unplayable and derelict courses on
our travels. These unloved and forgotten courses once again being looked upon
by enthusiastic eyes.

In the last year we’ve managed to play at fifteen new
courses, revisit a number of courses and visit a further twelve courses we
couldn’t play for one reason or another.

Chrizy Golfing in Manchester last November!

Who knows how many more Minigolf courses we’ll play in
the coming weeks, months and years. There are some courses in London and St Albans that are on our ‘to play very soon’ list, while other courses in the
south west of England (where there are many!) will take some time to explore properly.

Emily playing at Barnard Castle in July

Whatever happens we’ll continue to tour the country and
the great British coastline, popping into seaside resorts in the hope of
playing a new and exciting course, or rediscovering a long-forgotten remnant of
Minigolf history.

Minigolf, Crazy golf, Adventure Golf courses we’ve played
since the 18th of October 2012:

The course is £2 a round and while we were there we saw a
few other groups and pairs having some games too. Stonham Barns is a nice spot
with shops and attractions (including an Owl sanctuary). As a bonus we picked
up a ‘Crazy Golf Machine’ board game for a quid at the on-site weekly Car Boot
Sale!

Friday, September 13, 2013

Travelling around as much as Emily and I do its inevitable things leap out of the surrounding area and catch our eye.

While we are primarily interested in visiting each and every seaside in the UK (175 and counting) and all of the country’s Miniature Golf courses (currently at 536) over the years our interest has been piqued by a wide-range of other bits and pieces.

Last year I bought a book called 'Signs of life', by Dave Askwith and Alex Normanton, that contained photos of spoof signs and mock street furniture the pair had created and put up around the country. One of the photos showed a faux 'English Heritage' Blue Plaque commemorating the ‘famous’ Jacob von Hogflume (1864-1909) – a noted Time Traveller who lived at the site of the blue plaque in Golden Square, London in the year 2063! Oh yes he exists, he’s even on twitter so he must be real.

Sadly when I visited the location in the book the plaque was no longer there, instead I snapped this legitimate blue plaque put up by English Heritage.

The Marquess of Pombal lived here. Jacob Von Hogflume will live there in the future

Historic plaques come in a number of shapes, sizes and colours, and act as historical markers commemorating links between famous people or events. There is a range of criteria as to how one gets installed and by who, and we’ve spotted a lot of different types on our travels. One of my favourite ‘spots’ to date was in Enfield, Middlesex recently.

Me and the plaque that commemorates Reg 'Stan Butler' Varney's use of the world's first cash machine in Enfield!

Ahead of our visit I’d consulted the excellent Londonist website for ideas of places to go and things to see in Enfield. As well as the great riverside pub – The Crown and Horseshoes – the Londonist article reminded me that Enfield’s branch of Barclay’s bank was the location of the world’s very first cash machine – opened and used by Reg Varney in 1967!

Do check out the Open Plaques website for details of plaques worldwide. If you spot any that aren’t on the site do let them know as they are keen for more contributors.

So far we've spotted a variety of plaques including blue, green, red, black, brown, gold, silver ones; ones that are official, some unofficial; round ones, square ones, rectangular one, oval ones; plain ones and some more fancy. And by the looks of the Open Plaques website and community there are thousands more to find!

As well as the English Heritage plaques we've spotted those put up by the Cecil Court Traders' Association, the Stone Federation, the City of Westminster, Westminster City Council, Hastings Borough Council, the London County Council, Bournemouth Borough Council, Worthing Borough Council, the Heritage Lottery Fund, Walton Community Forum, Barnard Council Town Council, The Corporation of the City of London, The Ipswich Society, the Greater London Council, Barclays Bank Plc, Luton Borough Council, the African Caribbean Community Development Forum, the Rotary Clubs of Worthing and Worthing Steyne, Heritage in Sutton and the Republic of Texas!